A fanfic-"Gehenna" by Luke ^Gu3ss^ . ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "GEHENNA" Selphie raced through the narrow streets of the bay-side city of Tollane,on the west coast Galbadia.The rapidly shrinking Galbadia Dominium had been withdrawing from all its occupied countries,Timber and Dollet being the first to regain their freedom.The Dominium had been shrinking all the way back to Deling city,and had tried to keep control of Tollane.Once the rebels had requested aid from SeeD,it had begun to look like it was all over for the Galbadians hold.Deling was a landlocked city,and it needed the trading port of Tollane,not wanting to pay the heavy trade taxes.But the rebels and SeeD had begun to drive the Galbadians out of the city. Selphie had gotten seperated from her unit but had received the order to protect and withdraw refugee's from the city centre.Great,now only if she could just find any refugee's that would be a big help. Without thinking,she'd run out into a street and found herself staring down the barrels of several machine guns,being held by a platoon of Galbadian soldiers. "Hands up!" shouted the commanding officer in red."Up against the wall,spread your legs!" Selphie stood looking at the with her left hand on her hip and waving her other around in the air."Did anyone ever tell you guys that you're ugly and dress funny?" The soldiers exchanged confused glances.Wasen't she supposed to be surrendering? "No?" mocked Selphie."Then let me be the first; You're ugly and you dress funny. Sayonara!" She took off,racing hell-for-leather down the streets and alleyways,ducking and weaving,trying to avoid the soldiers. As she raced down to the docks,she almost fell over the pair in front of her. It was a Galbadian Major and a civilian woman. The Galbadian was preparing to execute the civilian. "Hey!" shouted Selphie,whipping out her shinobou."Play by the rules,asshole!" She swung the weapon through the air and let the chain part wrap itself around the Galbaians neck.She yanked the handles and the soldier fell to ground. Selphie tried to help the woman to her feet.She seemed very injured. "Are you okay?" asked Selphie. The woman gave no reply.She shot out her hands and gripped Selphie's head by the temples.The womans eyes blazed yellow,then the light began to move down her arms and into Selphie's head. Once the light had been transferred,the woman slumped to the ground,stone dead. That just left Selphie looking at herself,wondering what the heck had just happened. Zell came running up to her."Yo,Seph!" he shouted."We've been ordered to clear out.The missions completed.We have to withdraw-Lets Book!" Selphie looked at him.She knew the boys name...Dincht,Zell Dincht,yes.... "Hey,you okay?" he asked. "I am fine." she replied."Lets return to Garden." "Uh,okay." said Zell."Lets go." They ran down the docks to where the personnel carriers were waiting.Quistis was there,ordering the SeeDs into the ships."Lets go,get the lead out!Move,move,move!" she shouted.Selphie found herself in one of the ships,sandwiched between Zell and another SeeD. She was beginning to worry about herself.She'd begun to think less and less.Just now,when she was running,she had felt like she was doing it automatically,like her body was on autopilot and she was not in control. By the time they got back to Garden,nobody had noticed her eyes had turned from green to yellow... * * * * * Selphie looked up at the massive interior of the Garden superstructure. So,this is the legendary Balamb Garden,thought a voice in her head that was louder than hers,it's bigger than i'd imagined. Selphie tried to ask the voice who it was,but to her horror,she found she had no control over her mouth,or any other part of her body. Her body was walking around,but there was no way she was in control... Irvine knocked on the door of Selphie's quarters.There was no reply.When he tried again,she swung the door open,and he found himself staring at a completely different Selphie to the one he knew. Gone was her usual yellow dress,replaced by a tight-fitting black knee-length dress,with a stylish metallic belt and blue flak-jacket.He'd never seen her wear anything like this before. "Selphie?" "Yes?" Her haircut was different too,it now flowed down the back of her head in a wet-look. There were also dyed streaks of red and purple in it.A pair of sunglasses shaded her eyes. "You look....different?" "Yes,i do.I've had a bit of a change of style.Do you like it?" "I dunno,i guess so.It was just a bit of a surprise,thats all." She looked up at Irvine,secretly delighting in the confused and surprised looks on his face she was giving him."Do you want to sleep with me,Irvine?" "WHAT?!?!" "Right now,if you want to." He began to lose his usual cool composure,having never heard this kind of talk from out of his girlfriend."No!..Well,i mean,yes,of course,i would-but you're all so-and you've never been,and we have'nt even-dont get me wrong,i would like nothing more than to-what i mean is-a guys gotta have boundries and chivalry and all crap like that,but you're different and i,Oh Gods...." She delighted in seeing him like this.With one sentance she'd knocked him for a six.Maybe this one would keep her entertained for a while... "Are you feeling alright,Selphie?" "I'm fine." she said,then groaned and collapsed into his arms. "Time you saw a doctor,Sefie." said Irvine,slinging her over his shoulder. * * * * * * * Squall sat on the bench in the Quad,looking through the trees and flowers of the small garden/park around him. She was around her somewhere.He always knew where Rinoa was,it was almost like he could sense her presence.A flock of birds to his left idly looked up at him. He grinned and looked down at them. "Looking right at me is a good way to get yourself spotted,you know." he said to the birds. They flapped their wings and began to swarm in a miniscule tornado.The birds began to emerge and glared a blazing white colour,that quickly faded and became the figure of Rinoa Heartilly. "No fair!" she laughed."How did you tell?" "You were looking right at me." "I wasent looking right at you when i was the water in the fountain." "That one was a lucky guess." Rinoa let herself fall across the bench and rested her head on Squalls lap, looking up at the clouds drifting above them. "Metamorphing is'ent easy,you know." she said. "Why's that?" "Edea warned me that it would be very draining but i did'nt think it would be this tiring.Plus,all i can really do is water and a flock of birds.Does it bug you?" "YOU bug me." She let her hand up to slap him playfully,but he grabbed it and bent down to kiss her.She held his head with her free hand. She just wanted to stay here with him,just like this. And so they would have remained,had not Zell came running up and interrupted yet another one of their moments. "Whoa!Sorry Squall,Rinny." he apologised. "What is it,Zell?" "I'm sorry...RINNY?" "Uh,Squall-Cid wants to hear your report on the Tollane mission." "Yippee." he replied,sarcastically."Catch you later." he said to Rinoa. Rinoa sighed,then snapped her head up in alert. "What is it?" inquired Zell. "I sense something.A presence...i have'nt felt this since..." She sprang off the bench and ran towards the infirmary. Out of curious anxiety,Zell chased after her. * * * * * * * Kadowaki ran the scanner over Selphie. "She seems fine." announced the doctor. "Of course i'm fine!" snapped Selphie.She got off the bed and began to walk to the door.Rinoa instantly appeared in the doorway,not at all out of breath.She was followed by a slightly tired Zell.Selphie and Rinoa found themselves staring at each other wide-eyed.They each realised what the other were. "SORCERESS!" shouted Rinoa to the entire room. Selphie bolted for the door just as Zell slammed his fist down on a large red button in the wall.A heavy metal door whooshed down and isolated the room,sealing it off from the whole Garden. Selphie ducked back to Irvine before anyone could react.She reached under his coat and pulled at his belt,retrieving his shotgun. She waved the gun,pointing it at everyone in the room,then bringing it up to the base of Irvine's skull. "Open the door,NOW! Or this SeeD dies!" she roared. Zell began to approach her slowly,his hands up in a neutral pose. "Put the gun down,whoever you are." "KEEP AWAY FROM ME!" screamed Selphie."OPEN THE DOOR!!" Zell continued to advance on her."Nobody is going to open that door.Now drop that gun and let that guy go." Rinoa was confused.It was indeed a Sorceress who was possessing Selphie, so why was she using a gun? Why did'nt she use her power? Zell continued to advance on Selphie and Irvine. Eventually he got too close, and she pulled the shotgun away from Irvine's head and aimed it right at Zell. "ONE MORE STEP AND YOU WILL DIE, SeeD!!!" Selphie roared. Rinoa instantly made a kicking motion with her left leg and the gun flew out of Selphie's hand and clattered against the wall, useless. Irvine promptly elbowed Selphie in the ribs and broke himself free as Zell grabbed her free arm with one hand and landed his other square on her chin. Normally neither of them hit girls, but a Sorceress in possession of their friend was a completely different matter. Selphie fell back into Irvine's hands. "That was weird." he said,holding her in his arms. "I know." agreed Zell. "She went down pretty easy for a Sorceress." Rinoa looked over at Kadowaki. "Get Squall." she said."Tell him we got a Sorceress infiltrator in the Garden..." * * * * * * * Back in Tollane, a trio of rebels were cleaning up after the successful liberation of their city. They were the unfortunate ones in charge of cleaning up the bodies left behind from the battle. Right now they were trying to clear the docks... "There's another over here!" shouted Merris, who seemed to be the team leader. The other two ran up the pathway to her.Kaylor was a large black man who was obviously the muscle in this outfit. Trate was a youth of about 19 years of age. They stopped and looked down at the bodies in front of them. There was a woman with no visible cause of death. Next to her there was a Galbadian Soldier with a broken neck. "So what do you reckon happened here?" asked Kaylor. "War crimes." announced Merris. "I figure this low-down piece of shit here-" she said,almost kicking the soldiers body "-was executing a civilian when either a SeeD or one of ours took him out." "Look, we got a lot to do." stated Trate, stepping toward the fallen soldier."Somebody get his legs." Before anyone could stop him,he'd grabbed the soldiers arms and a bizarre exchange seemed to take place. As Trate screamed, the soldiers body seemed to vanish up into him, the soldiers clothes fell empty as he seemed to be absorbed into Trate through his hands. Soon it was just Trate standing there, an empty uniform at his feet. Merris and Kaylor were in a state of terror. "What the hell was that?" gasped Kaylor. Trate seemed to look at them with new eyes. "Spontaeneous Reincarnation and Regeneration." he said, as if to explain everything. But he did'nt explain anything. He simply shot out his hands towards them with lightning reflexes. With one movement he had snapped Kaylor's neck and thrown Merris face-first into a wall. Taking the vanished soldiers gun, Trate set off for the pier, to find a good boat that would take him to Balamb Garden... * * * * * * * Selphie began to feel her mind return from the darkness that had previously seized her.She could feel herself rocket back to reality and into the explosion of consciousness. She awoke to find herself in an upright position. She was spreadeagled on a vertical restraining table. As her eyes began to focus, she saw a figure sitting in a chair about five feet from here. It was Irvine, and Man, did he have a serious look on his face. He blinked, lifted up his head and stared right at her. He reached for a communicator and spoke into it, never taking his eyes off. "She...IT is awake." he said simply. "What's going on, Irvy?" she asked innocently. For some reason, this innocent question made Irvine grimace with rage. She could tell from his expression he was really all-time high angry. "No." he growled. "Don't you dare." Selphie was very confused, and the thunder in Irvy's voice was discomforting. "Don't you even DARE to use her voice!" he shouted. The door opened behind him, and in stepped Edea and Rinoa, followed by Squall, Cid and Zell. "It's awake." Irvine told them, pointing at Selphie. All of them exept Irvine formed a semi-circle in front of Selphie. Edea was the first to speak. "Who are you?" she said. "What do you mean,Who am i?" panicked Selphie. "It's me, Selphie!" "Can it!" cried Squall. "We've seen Sorceresses in possession of people speak with their hosts voices before." Rinoa realised Squall was looking at her. She gave a simple nod to agree with what he had said. "Sorceress?" echoed Selphie. "What are you saying?" She looked at their faces, serious as hell. "The Sorceress may have left her body or be sleeping." Rinoa announced. "There's a good chance we might actually be talking to Selphie." "How do we know which is which?" asked Zell. "We could patronise her." stated Edea. "That would make any Sorceress in possession very angry very fast." "HEY!!!" shouted Selphie. "Could someone PLEASE tell me what is going on here?!?!" The group paused for a beat. "If that ain't Selphie..." said Zell "...that Sorceress has definately done her homework." "If that is Selphie, then she must be told of her predicament." said Edea, stepping forward. "Selphie, this is'ent easy to say, but...you've become possessed by a Sorceress." She continued, trying to ignore the look of terror spreading across Selphie's face. "We dont know whether she's from the future or from the past, and we dont know why she has'ent been using her magic at all yet either." "What are you saying?" cried Selphie."That i got someone else inside me?" Edea nodded. "I'm afraid so." "Well get her out! You have to get her out of me!" Selphie cried, fighting tears. "We're looking for a way." said Squall."But first we need to talk to her." "TALK!?!?" she screamed. "What the hell is there to talk about?!?!" "We must find a way to offer her a trade, so that you may go free." stated Edea. "NO!" shouted Selphie. "SHE'S A WICKED SORCERESS AND WE'RE SeeD'S-IT'S SIMPLE AS THAT! FOR GODS SAKES, KILL HER SQUALL!!!!" "If we do that when she's in your body you could be killed too!" Squall shouted back. "I don't care!" Selphie shouted through her tears. "I don't care!Kill her!" She continued to bawl and scream until she felt her spirit surge and be pushed back into the recesses of her mind. Her head fell limp, and when raised again, her eyes bore a distinct yellow colour. "Let me go!" demanded the voice that was not Selphie's. "You're in no position to demand anything." riposted Squall. Selphie scanned the room, her eyes eventually resting on Rinoa. "I will not converse with any SeeD's." announced Selphie. "You are the Sorceress who rules this era?" Rinoa looked at the others. It looked like she was to be the mediator in this little negotiation. "Um, yes and no...i AM the Sorceress of this time but i'm not ruling anything. Who are you?" "My name is Sorceress Gehenna." "Have you come from the past or future?" "What year is this?" The others exchanged glances. There was now no doubt their fried was definately possessed by a Sorceress out of time. Eventually Cid spoke; "It's 3721,In The Year Of Rinoa." "Then i am from what you consider the past; 2299 In The Year Of Ahmela" Edea stood back in awe. "The Dark Era..." she gasped. "Whats The Dark Era?" asked Zell. "During Hyne's Second Coming-" explained Edea "the Sorceresses of that era were granted a rejuvination and boosting of their powers, making them stronger than ever. But they were given too much power, and they fought numerous wars against each other with mortal armies. In her Third Coming, Hyne removed half of their power, so that they would no longer fight on the scale previously witnessed. The Sorceresses of the modern age are the result of that power-stripping. While remaining incredibly powerful, even Ultimecia was weaker than the Sorceresses of that time." "Correct." boomed Gehenna. "So why are you here?" asked Rinoa "In this girls body?" "In my own time, my body was killed. I managed to exorcise my spirit so that i would live on in some form." "Thats why you cant use your magic...The Source is dead." "I have found a new body. This is The One who will be my vessel." "I won't allow that!" yelled Squall. "We're gonna get you outta Selphie even if we have to turn her inside-out to do so!" "Let Me Go!" repeated Gehenna. "Or I Will Destroy You All!!" "Do NOT attempt to escape!" ordered Cid as Selphie's body began to struggle. "I Will Kill You!" she screamed. "We will open fire!" Cid countermanded, as three SeeDs bearing firearms rushed in on his command. "DON'T SHOOT!" cried Selphie, having returned to her own self. Cid instanly had the SeeDs lower their weapons. "Oh Gods!" blurted Selphie through her tears. "What did i do?" "Nothing." said Rinoa, trying to sooth her. "We just found out a few things about the Sorceress controlling you, thats all." Unnoticed to the others, Squall and Cid stepped to the back and began to discuss something. "She comes from the past." Edea explained to Selphie."Her body is dead, and we're sure thats why she has been losing control over you every now and then, and why she can't use her powers." "So..what are you going to do?" sniffled Selphie. Rinoa and Edea exchanged glances. "We're trying to figure out how to get her out of you without killing you." said Rinoa, her voice full of hope."And we won't stop trying until we've found a way!" Selphie's smile clashed with her tears. In her darkest hour she could always count on her friends. This is what Rinoa must have felt like during her possession... "NO!" Squall shouted to Cid, punching the wall in anger. "I won't allow that,that godsdamned WAR CRIMINAL anywhere near this Garden!!" "I am in Command of this Garden,Squall-NOT you! And i say it's the best course of action given the circumstances." "Whats goin' on?" asked Zell. Squall turned to face the others. "I'll tell you whats going on." he said. "Cid wants to bring Doctor Odine to the Garden to see if he can remove Gehenna." Rinoa and Edea almost double-taked on the spot. "You can't be serious!!" exclaimed Rinoa. "The man is a war criminal!" "No, Miss Heartilly, i'm deathly serious." said Cid. "One of my SeeD's has become possessed by a Sorceress. This situation calls for drastic measures." "Well chief," dead-panned Zell. "I guess they dont come any seriouser than this,huh?" It was obvious to Selphie that no-one, not even Cid was happy with this course of action. "If that's what it takes to get this demon out me..." she said, weakly. "Then i want you to do it." "What? Selphie, think about what you're saying here!" cried Rinoa. "Listen to her, Selphie" urged Zell. "The man conducted experiments on children to test for Sorceress eligability" recited Squall. "He ran tests on Ellone and hundreds of other women, and even built the machine Ultimecia used to possess Edea and Rinoa. And when Laguna took over, not only did that bastard let Odine off free, he also let him continue working as a scientist." "Nevertheless." announced Cid, "He knows more about Sorceresses than some Sorceresses do. I'm making the call." He left, Edea following him. The others watched them go, a little worried that they may now have delivered their friend unto a greater danger... * * * * * * * Trate stood on the deck of the boat and held the binoculars to his eyes. The Legendary Balamb Garden was on the horizon and drawing away fast. He needed to catch the wind and pick up speed if he was ever to catch them and complete his mission...the True mission of a SeeD... As he returned to the bridge, he pulled the corpse of the dead captain off the steering wheel and pulled the levers to extend the sails. He could feel it in the air. This was going to be IT, when he finally hunted down and killed Sorceress Gehenna... To be continued...